1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tattooing, and more particularly relates to an ergonomic device and method for applying one or more tattoos to biological tissue.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tattooing is a widespread and a widely practiced body decoration technique. There are approximately 49,000 tattoo artists in the United States. The art and associated industry of tattooing is continuing to grow and expand throughout the United States and world.
In recent years, tattooing has spread beyond the commonly thought realm of body decoration and has been accepted into the aesthetic and cosmetic fields in the form of so-called “permanent makeup.” Permanent makeup is most often associated with tattooing parts of the face, for example, eyebrows, eye line, lips, etc. Such permanent makeup may be a replacement for traditional cosmetic products and/or to assist in correcting physical shortcomings or defects.
To perform these techniques, it is known to use devices commonly known as tattoo machines, which have an elongated hollow body that can be maneuvered manually and is suitable to contain a coloring liquid and to act as a guide for one or more needles.
Tattoo machines have been in use for years. Commonly, one end of the elongated hollow body is provided with an exit hole for the liquid, inside which the needle can slide in a reciprocating fashion between two end positions, i.e., a position in which it is fully inserted within the hollow body and a position in which the tip of the needle protrudes from the hole in order to penetrate the skin and entrain the coloring liquid with it.
The reciprocating needle moves up and down and may puncture the biological tissue at the rate ranging from about 50 to about 300 times a second. Such sterilized needles may be installed in the machine and dipped in ink, which is introduced into the needles through capillary action. Some machines use needles connected to ink reservoirs rather than dipping the needle into ink.
Commonly, a tattoo machine uses an up-and-down motion to pierce the top layer of the biological tissue and therein drive insoluble, micrometer-sized particles of ink into the dermal layer of the biological tissue. The dermal layer is often about one-eighth inch deep.
Motor means are generally fitted on the hollow body and drive the needle between the two end positions, imparting thereto a vibrating motion. That is, as the needle makes sudden and immediate changes in direction, a great amount of vibrational energy is imparted to an individual maneuvering the tattoo machine.
Such vibrational energy may cause difficulty in properly manipulating the direction of the tattoo machine and may cause physical exhaustion and damage to muscles, ligaments, joints, and nerves of the individual maneuvering the tattoo machine. In the short term, this vibrational energy exerted upon the artist limits the number and length of sessions that an artist may devote to providing tattoos. In the long term, tattoo artists tend to develop carpel tunnel syndrome and/or osteoarthritis. In both the short term and long term, these disadvantages ultimately lead to less time to devote to the art and less revenue generation.
In addition to possible physical damage to an individual manipulating a standard tattoo machine, the vibrational energy of a standard tattoo machine allows for less control over the actual machine by an individual. Furthermore, the vibrational energy may cause the actual ink injected by the machine to not be as accurately or precisely placed under the skin, thereby allowing blurring of the image being created.
The motor means are activated not only to allow the needle to penetrate the skin while making the tattoo but also to fill the hollow body with the required coloring liquid; the hole for the exit of the liquid from the hollow body is in fact commonly used also as an inlet, and filling is performed generally by capillary action by dipping the end of the hollow body provided with the hole in a container that contains the pigment and by moving the needle in order to facilitate its drawing.
In addition to the vibrational drawbacks, most motor means have substantial dimensions that considerably increase the weight of the hollow body, accordingly limiting its maneuverability and easy handling.
Thus, what is desired is an ergonomic tattoo machine being comfortable to hold, having significantly less weight, and having less vibration.